26 Ways to Get Them Together
by mallyyishawterthanyoukthnx
Summary: Troy and Gabriella are perfect for each other in every way possible, but they're both too shy to come clean with their feelings. Can Chad and Taylor get them together? Full summary inside!
1. The Beginning

**Summary:** Ever since Troy and Gabriella almost kissed at the basketball game, they've both been too shy to try for it again. Troy has been becoming more and more involved with basketball, and Gabriella's finding that math and science has been taking up most of her free time, as well. When Chad and Taylor notice this, what are they to do? Well, they start thinking of ways to get them together, of course! However... what happens when Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C all fail? They think of more ideas, of course! Soon enough, what starts out as just a few plans (A, B, C, and D) turns into twenty-six of 'em (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, ect.). Will any of the ideas actually work? Will Chad and Taylor be able to get Troy and Gabriella together before the musical? Will all of Chad and Taylor's plans ruin Troy and Gabriella's friendship, in general? Why on earth am I asking you, when I already know (haha, stole this phrase from someone)!

**Rating: **PG (K+)

**Genre:** Romance/Humor

**Pairings:** Troyella (Troy and Gabriella), Chaylor (Chad and Taylor), Sheke (Sharpay and Zeke), and Jelsi (Jason and Kelsi). However, later on, I may just have to add a Relsi (Ryan and Kelsi) in there, 'cause I simply adore this couple!

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, so I don't own the any of the original HSM characters, nor the original plot. However, I do own this plot. Fin.

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**Chapter One: The Beginning**

"Come on now guys! Head in the game, head in the game!" Coach Bolton shouted at the team of boys.

"Come on, Wildcats! Show me what you got!" Troy Bolton shouted above the dribbling of the ball and the squeaking of the tennis shoes on the newly cleaned gym floor.

Coach Bolton let a small grin slip upon his face as he watched his son and the other boys following his lead. Chad thrust the ball at Zeke, who caught it with ease and threw the orange ball to Troy. Troy caught it, just as it was about to go over his head and started moving to the basketball hoop. Another team member blocked his way, trying to take the ball out of Troy's grasp (they were doing a scrimmage). Troy, thinking fast, threw it to Jason, who was only a few feet away and wide open. Troy ran up the court on the opposite side, watching Jason run up on the other side. Just as another teammate was about to try and steal the ball from Jason, the boy quickly tossed it to Troy, who ran (dribbling all the way), paused for a minute in front of the hoop, and shot it perfectly into the basket, his feet just barely leaving the ground.

Troy grinned cheerfully, and did a tiny jig, as he ran back over to his teammates. "Alright, great practice everyone! Now, that's exactly what I wanna see in the game!" Troy said gleefully.

"Well, that'll do it for today, boys. Go ahead and hit the showers!" Coach Bolton instructed the boys, and they all ran towards the locker room. Just as Troy was passing his father, Coach Bolton placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and turned him around, grinning. "You get better everyday!" he said. Troy didn't exactly know why his father had chosen to tell him this… but it still felt great to know that his father was proud of him. Troy grinned, and replied with a simple, "Thanks, dad."

"Well, you better go ahead and get along then." Mr. Bolton told him. "I've got a few things to go over, anyway. I'll see you at home." With that, Troy ran to the locker room, and Jack went off to his office.  
Troy stopped shortly, turning around. "Oh, dad!" he called across the gym. Troy jogged up to his father and began again. "I'm gonna practice with Gabriella for the musical, so I won't be home 'til sometime around 4:30."

"Alright." Jack sighed, looking down at his son. It wasn't that he had anything against his son's new talent… it was just that… well, now this girl and the musical seemed to have started to take over Troy's life, whether he noticed it or not. Jack wasn't quite sure if he liked the idea of this, when Troy should've really been focusing all of his attention on basketball.

Troy searched his father's eyes, seeming to almost read his thoughts. "It's okay, dad." Troy reassured him with a small grin. "I've been practicing every day at home, as well. You know that, you've seen me loads of times. Trust me, I can handle both things. Besides, you know what they always say, right? Well… maybe they don't always say it… but it is a pretty good life lesson I guess…" the boy trailed off, looking down at his shoes for a few moments. "Anyway," he began again, turning his head back up towards his father. "I really want to sing and play basketball too, so I'm willing to try my best and make sacrifices for that." he finished, with yet another wide grin.

Jack let the words sink into him before replying again, "I know… just… don't put too much pressure on yourself, alright? It's not healthy-really, it isn't."

Troy nodded. "I know… and I can do it." He grinned once more before running off again, calling behind his shoulder: "Alright, well I'll see ya at home, dad! Gotta go catch up with Gabi before I'm too late!"

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"Great job, Gabriella!" Taylor was complimenting her new best friend. "Thanks a ton for helping out with this. They can never get enough help, you know." Taylor gestured towards four students, whom both girls had started tutoring, just a few days ago.

Gabriella looked up to the clock, and quickly said, before running off herself, "Oh! I've gotta run-don't wanna be late to practice. I would really hate to make Kelsi wait for me… let alone, be alone with Troy for God knows how long!" Gabriella said as she giggled to herself, and ran out of the science lab.

Taylor grinned at Gabriella's back. The two were perfect for each other-Gabriella and Troy, not the two girls, of course. The only thing was that… well… they both were just a bit shy when it came to their relationship being anything more than just good friends. Taylor knew this. Chad knew this. Zeke knew this. Sharpay knew this. Ryan knew this. Kelsi knew this… and Jason knew this. Basically, just about the whole school knew this. Taylor really wished that there was some way to get the both of them together… but that would take great plotting… and she sure as heck couldn't do it alone…

It seemed as though a tiny light bulb in the girl's head suddenly lit up at the thought. She needed to go find Chad! Taylor rushed the small group of students out of the lab-quickly putting everything away while she was at it. Within five minutes, Taylor was completely done with everything and she, herself was racing out of the science lab and down the many hallways of East High. Where she was headed… to the locker room, of course!

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**Author's Note:** Yeah, so this is my first attempt at writing a HSM fic. So far, I've only done "Harry Potter", "Star Wars", and "Lizzie McGuire"… most of 'em flopped (except one HP one that I'm still working on at the moment)… so I hope that this one won't! Sorry for the shortness… but I had to begin somewhere. 'Sides, it's late and I've got to go to bed real soon. Well… tell me what ya think! (The humor and everything else will come in later chapters… I've already got about the next four ones planned out!)


	2. And So the Plotting Begins

**Disclaimer:** -le sigh- Yes, well sadly, I don't own the original HSM plot nor the characters. I do own the plot for this story, though... so that, m'dears, you cannot sleal from me!

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**Chapter Two-And So the Plotting Begins...**

The African-American girl slid to a stop right in front of the boys' locker room, almost falling over in the process of doing so. Taylor quickly straightened herself and threw open the door, causing it to slam on the wall beside the door with a long 'BAMG!'. The boys' heads immediately turned towards the girl who was now proceeding to walk down the hallways of the locker room, searching in every section for her boyfriend.

A few of the boys were giving her strange looks, as to why on earth she was in there, but Taylor continued to search for Chad, ignoring the looks and the comments coming from the boys. "Ah hah! There you are you." Taylor cried triumphantly, jumping onto Chad's back. The poor boy stumbled forward slightly, nearly falling to the ground, but the girl managed to get herself situated on his back comfortably.

Chad sighed. "What did I do wrong this time?"

Taylor giggled, slapping the boy over the head. "You didn't do anything wrong, silly!" she replied, hopping off of the boys back. Chad sighed and grinned with relief.

"Alright, well I was just about to head out of here... so c'mon." he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the locker room. Once the couple was outside and walking down the hallways of East High, Chad turned to his girlfriend again. "So... was there any particular reason, like... at all, as to why you to came and found me, and attempt to kill me by surprising me like that and making me almost fall flat on my face?"

Taylor giggled and slapped him over the head yet again. "Yes, actually I do." she responded as a wide grin appeared upon her soft features. "So, you and I both know that Gabriella and Troy are completely perfect for each other in every way possible, right?"

Chad nodded and quirked an eyebrow. "Wait, where are you going with this?" he asked curiously. "You know you shouldn't meddle, Taylor. You know what always happens when you try to do this..."

Taylor stopped walking and leaned against a nearby wall, crossed her arms across her chest, thrust out her lips, and began to pout. Chad walked over to the girl and rested himself beside her, with raised eyebrows in her direction. "Yeah, okay, Taylor. You honestly aren't very good at that act." he pointed out.

"I know, but I'm getting better!" Taylor smiled, putting her regular cheerful mood back upon herself. Chad laughed.

Taylor began again. "Anyways, in this situation, we _need_ to meddle, Chad. If we don't... then who else will?"

Chad quirked yet another eyebrow toward the girl. "'We'? There is no 'we' in this. Sorry hun, but I'm not going to be involved with this sort of thing again. Remember what happened last time you meddled?"

Taylor put her hand to her chin, pretending to think about it. "Umm... no, not really." Taylor knew very well what happened last time... she just hoped that Chad wouldn't-which he most likely did, since he liked to bring up these things quite often in the couples' little teasing sort of fights. Taylor bit her lip, waiting for his response.

Chad grinned. "Oh, but I think you very well do, m'dear." He nodded.

Taylor sighed. "Yeah... but I mean, it really wasn't that big of a deal! I mean, nobody was hurt... that bad. And the Johnsons are pressing charges!" she defended.

Chad gave her a look that told her that what she said sounded as if she was going insane, and he grinned slightly, putting his hand on her shoulder. Taylor sighed yet again. "Fine, but could you at least let me finish what I was saying?"

"Fine."

"Alright... So I'm pretty much fed up with watching our friends go by like this. Too shy to confess their true feelings for one another-each of them completely clueless to the other's feelings." Chad nodded. Maybe Taylor just might to be onto something here... He shrugged as he waited for the girl to continue talking.

Taylor grinned widely when she realized that Chad hadn't cut her off this time, and it actually seemed as though he was considering what she was saying. "So... I just _happened_ to have this little idea of trying to get the two of 'em together... but I can't do it by myself."

Chad sighed, truly thinking about it deeply. "I dunno, Tay." he replied honestly. "This could really turn out awfully..." he trailed off.

Taylor had no choice. "Please! Please, Chad? Please, please, please, please, _please_!" she begged, grabbing onto both of his shoulders. She flashed him a smile and a quick wink that made Chad go goofy. "PLEASE!" she tried once more, when Chad didn't seem too up on the idea. She grabbed onto to the front of him and continued with her annoying, but sweet pleading.

Chad laughed nervously. "Uh... Taylor...? People are starring..."

Taylor game him the 'puppy dog eyes', and asked him once more in the most sing-song voice that she could muster. Chad groaned and replied with a simple, "Fine."

Taylor cried out triumphantly, hugging the boy and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. Chad grinned goofily. "C'mon!" Taylor said suddenly, dragging Chad down the hallways once more. "Ugh, Taylor, where are we going now?"

"You'll see! C'mon! Gotta hurry up before we're too late." Chad gave her a questionable look, but continued to let Taylor drag him down the halls.

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"So..." Troy trailed off awkwardly, looking down at his shoes as he leaned against the dry-erase board.

"So." Kelsi replied simply, resting her elbow on a nearby desk and proceeding to rest her head in her hands.

Troy nodded, not knowing exactly what to do. The two had never been alone together... and quite frankly, Troy didn't know what to say, nor did he know very much in depth about the girl. Gabriella was friends with Kelsi, and she was always the one to spark up the conversation, while Troy went along with it. Gabriella had such a great gift of adding joy and comfort to any room, and making sure that everyone felt great and that no one felt excluded. Troy grinned, but then sighed. He knew that he liked Gabriella-more than just friends. He was just... too afraid to confront Gabriella about his true feelings.

Just then, the brunette herself walked through the door, wearing a cheerful grin upon her face. "Hey guys!" she greeted in a sing-song voice. Both Troy and Kelsi sighed deeply with relief.

"Sorry I'm late." Gabriella said with an apologetic look towards the both of them. "Tutoring with Taylor ran a bit later than we thought it would've."

"Well, now that you're hear, we can start." Kelsi said with a grin upon her own face, as she walked over and took her rightful place next to the piano.

Gabriella walked next to Troy and gave him a sweet smile. Troy could feel himself melt on the inside. "Again, I'm _really_ sorry about being nearly ten minutes late." she whispered to him. "I know that you two don't exactly know each other very well… but hey, at least is gave you a chance to get to know each other better, right?" she asked with a grin.

"Yeah... sure." Troy nodded, giving her a short smile.

"Alright, let's get going, guys. How 'bout we start with "What I've Been Looking For", since that seems to be the most challenging with the dance moves included for the both of you." Kelsi mused.

Gabriella giggled, remembering how her and Troy had been having a rather hard time with the dance moves the day before. Troy had been crashing into everything, pulling Gabriella down with him… and Gabriella seemed to keep stepping on Troy's foot.

Troy's face reddened at Gabriella's giggling, but Gabriella didn't notice. "C'mon. This time, I'll try not to be so clumsy, as long as you promise to not pull me down everywhere." Gabriella teased harmlessly. Troy flashed her a grin. "Promise" he replied.

Gabriella smiled deeply. She loved how she could play around with Troy. They had a great friendship. Gabriella just wished that they could be… well… you know… more than that. Gabriella pushed the thoughts to the back of her head and she put on a cheerful grin.

Taylor grinned cheerfully, peering into the window. "Aww, aren't they just soooooo adorable together?" she asked in a voice that was usually directed towards babies, as she turned to Chad. Chad shrugged.

"And now, darling… is where the plotting begins." Taylor grinned wickedly as she began dragging Chad along, yet again.

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**Author's Note:** So... what do y'all think? I had lots of fun writing this-'specially the Chaylor part, they really are just so cute together! Oh, and I just _had_ to add the part about Troy crashing into everything at his attempt to do some sort of dance. :P Hehe, he's a goofball. -pets him-


	3. The 1st of 26 Ideas X Part One

**Author's Note:** Just an answer to a question that I got in one of the reviews - yup, I took the idea of the meddling thing from "Phil of the Future". However, I changed it up just a bit… and it wasn't referring to Taylor only meddling with relationships (such as Keely did). "Yeah… but I mean, it really wasn't that big of a deal! I mean, nobody was hurt... that bad. And the Johnsons are pressing charges!" Hehe. What happened here, is something that only _I_ know. It may be revealed in later chapters, but chances are leaning towards that it won't. Haha. That's just to keep you guessing, dearies! Anyways, thanks for all of the wonderful reviews. However, I did receive one or two rather rude ones… and I don't exactly feel that things such as this are required. The thing is… I… well… I have a life outside of the computer. –le gasp- I know, I know… quite shocking idn't it? Seriously, though. I'm really sorry for not updating in quite some time. I've just been _extremely_ busy lately. I have three fansites to tend, four role playing boards to reply to topics and such on, five regular message boards, schoolwork's been piling up immensely, I've got to start concentrating on my career more – I am an aspiring singer and actress, along with being a dancer – and… I just have a life. I don't update every single day, like some people do. I'm sorry, but it takes time for me to put loads of effort and ideas into my stories. Well… that's about all that I feel must be said. To all of those who understand – thank you! To those of you who don't – reread this. To those of you who just don't wanna understand – umm… then stop reading this story, if you don't like me. Anyways, please don't hate me! I'm sure that all of you out there get busy every now and then.

**Disclaimer:** Maddie does not own the original HSM plot, or the characters. Nor does she possess any talent to write any sorts of poems and what not to make the disclaimers sound more interesting. She does own the plot to this story and her –cough cough- **brilliant** –cough cough- writing. :D

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**Chapter Three -The First of Twenty-Six Ideas - _Part One_**

Practice for the musical went by fairly well. Troy didn't trip and fall down as much, and Gabriella tried her best to keep a far distance from Troy's feet. In the end it all ended up fine. Kelsi said that they were improving, at least.

The two walked out of the band room-each heading their separate ways, not turning to look back. Taylor and Chad stayed hidden behind the corner until both brunettes were completely out of sight. Chad popped up, stretching out his arms and legs dramatically. Taylor smacked the boy over the head and grabbed his hand (Gee, she seems to be doing this a lot.) Chad groaned as he was dragged off by the girl for the umpteenth time that day.

When Taylor finally stopped, both teens were out of breath and panting from running. Taylor had led the two into an empty classroom. The girl closed the door behind them and turned on the lights. She then proceeded to sit atop one of the desks, and Chad sat on the one next to hers. Chad couldn't seem to get quite comfortable. He kept moving his behind around and straightening himself up every five seconds. Taylor rolled her eyes.

Ignoring the noises that Chad was making as he was still trying to find a comfortable position, Taylor started speaking. "So… what are we gonna do now?"

"What do you mean?" Chad asked, quite dumbfounded.

Taylor sighed. "I_ mean_… how are we gonna get them together?"

"Well…" Chad momentarily trailed off as he scooted (the desk, now) every which way. "This was your idea, so don't 'cha think that _you're_ supposed to come up with this?"

Taylor sighed yet again. "Yes, Chad. However, _you_ agreed to help me, did you not?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Chad nodded. "Then that means you need to help me!" Taylor turned toward the wall, placing her hand to her chin in thought.

Two minutes later… 

Taylor continued to think up a plan, not really getting anywhere. Suddenly, there was a loud'_THUD!_', and down went Chad.

Taylor jumped in surprise and turned to see an upturned desk lying on the floor, right next to a red-faced Chad. Taylor giggled as she offered her hand to the boy. Once Chad was back up, Taylor instructed him to simply stand this time and Chad obeyed with a grin. "Anyways," she began once Chad was safely leaning against a wall. "We need to think up some way for them to at least talk to each other. You know, alone?"

Chad nodded, but stopped – staring at the girl quite dumbfounded again. "But… they've talked to each other loads of times before, haven't they?"

"Yeah, they have." Taylor replied, quickly crossing the idea of her mind. "Wait!" the girl suddenly cried, throwing a pointed finger into the air.

Chad jumped – startled at Taylor's sudden outburst. Taylor giggled silently and continued. "What if we… someone get them in the same room – to talk to each other, alone?" Chad raised an eyebrow. "Didn't we just go over this?"

"Stop interrupting!" Taylor scolded, throwing an ink pen – which she had found on the floor – at him.

"Owe! Okay, sorry." Chad replied sheepishly.

"Good boy." Taylor grinned. "Now, if you cooperate with me for the rest of our little plotting here, then I'll give you a cookie, m'kay?"

Chad quirked an eyebrow, but sighed as he leaned back against the wall. "Fine… but as long as it's peanut butter!"

"You got it. Now, where was I? Oh yeah. Anyway, we could get them together, alone, in the… gym, or something. Then… we could somehow make it possible that they would… ya know… talk about… their relationship…" Taylor nodded to herself, putting a finger to her chin as she thought up a good plan.

Chad nodded. "Alright… I think I have an idea."

"That's a first." Taylor mused sarcastically. Chad frowned, poking the girl in the stomach. Taylor giggled. "Okay, sorry. Go on, darling."

Chad grinned brightly. "Alright… so here's what we're gonna do…"

Once the two had thought up a good idea and had worked around all of the possible obstacles that could get in the way of their plan, they were ready to put it into action. It was then their turn to exit the building, heading home to work on the first part of their plan.

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Taylor walked through the front door of the small but cozy range style home, and quickly raced through the house. Mrs. McKessie was in the kitchen, taking dishes out of the dishwasher and putting them back in their rightful places. Taylor stopped in the kitchen and opened the pantry door, quickly scanning the closest for a tasty snack – she would also need something to hold down her hunger for the moment, to accomplish her task.

"There you are, Taylor. Where've you been? Didn't tutoring end about a half an hour ago?" her mother asked, eyeing the girl up and down.

Taylor grabbed a bag of potato chips out of the pantry and turned to her mother, putting on a smile. "Yeah, sorry. I was… uh… talking to Chad. He… needed help with homework." Taylor lied, nodding. It wasn't that what she and Chad were doing was wrong… she had just promised her mother that she wouldn't get involved with other people's lives again – Mrs. McKessie knowing her daughter all too well.

Mrs. McKessie nodded knowingly. "Okay well, I've got loads of homework tonight, Mom. So… umm… I gotta go… do that now." she lied and nodded again, quickly racing up the stairs.

Taylor threw open the door to her bedroom and plopped herself down onto her bed. She grabbed the blue colored phone off of her nightstand and hurriedly dialed Gabriella's number.

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

"Hello?" came a voice from the other end of the phone.

"Hey Gabi. It's Taylor." Taylor replied.

Taylor could hear soft laughter from the other end of the phone. "I know, Taylor. I have Caller ID…"

"Oh yeah, right." Taylor blushed. "Anyways, I just wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Umm… Would you mind meeting me in the gym tomorrow, after school?"

"Uh… yeah, I guess. But… why?" Gabriella asked, sounded quite curious.

"Oh… well…." Taylor bit her lip. Her and Chad hadn't exactly discussed this part. Taylor quickly scanned her mind, thinking of a good excuse. "Uh… well… I was… just gonna watch Chad play basketball or something like that… and… Troy was gonna be there, too. I just thought that you might want to join me… or something…?" Taylor asked, hopefully – mentally kicking herself for giving Gabriella such a stupid excuse.

Gabriella laughed slightly and replied, "Uh… sure Taylor. Why not? I've got nothing else to do, anyway."

Taylor grinned happily, putting her hand over the phone for a moment as she shouted out, "Yesssssssssssssssssssssss!" Taylor removed her hand and answered back in a calm tone. "Great, great. So… I'll see you then."

"Right. So… what's up?" Gabriella asked, clearly trying to spark up a nice conversation.

"Oh, sorry Gabs – can't talk. I've gotta do homework."

"Oh… umm… okay, that's fine. So, I'll talk to you tomorrow." Gabriella replied.

"Alright, see ya!"

"Bye."

After that, the two girls hung up. Taylor smiled cheerfully as she now called Chad's number. Her first part was completed.

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"Yo!"

"Hey Tr-" Chad began, but was abruptly cut off.

"You've reached Troy Bolton's cell phone."

Chad groaned as he waited for the answering message to end.

"If you haven't already guessed, I'm not here right now." Chad heard a quick laugh come from the background as Troy continued. "So… umm… leave a message after the little 'beeping' noise that comes up after I get done talking here and… uh… then you're set. Alright, bye."

After the message was finished, the phone made a 'beeping' noise and Chad began speaking into the phone. "Hey Troy, it's Chad. Right, so I… uh… I… just thought that I should… uh… let you know that…" Chad paused momentarily, thinking of a good excuse. "Umm… that… we're gonna have extra basketball practice, tomorrow after school. Yeah… yeah, that's it. Uh… the team just discussed the whole thing. We thought that we needed extra help from you. So… it's tomorrow, right after school, in the gym. _Don't_ be late! Alright… well, bye."

Chad hung up the phone and sighed with relief. That had gone by… easy enough. Well, at least it was over now. Chad just hoped that Troy would believe his excuse. I mean… who wouldn't? Yeah. It'll work. Chad nodded as he dialed Taylor's number.

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Gabriella shrugged lightly as she hung up the phone. Taylor was acting… strange. _Hmm… Why would Taylor want to watch Chad play basketball?_ Gabriella asked herself. _Eh, it's probably just some boyfriend-girlfriend thing._ she mused with a nod.

_Wait. Then… why would she ask me to come along? And why did she mention Troy…?_ Gabriella stared at her bedroom wall, a confused look crossing her face. After a few moments of thinking and not coming up with any idea as to why Taylor was acting the was that she was, Gabriella shrugged again. _Guess I'll find out tomorrow._ she told herself.

Gabriella plopped herself down onto her bed, laying down and staring up at the ceiling as she sighed deeply. The brunette's eyes roamed across her room and stopped suddenly as they fell upon a framed picture, hanging on her wall, just opposite her bed.

The picture brought back wonderful memories. Gabriella grinned as she thought back to the event that was playing before her eyes. The picture was of Gabriella and Troy singing "Breaking Free" at the final callbacks. Her mother had taken the picture – being the type of person that loves to save memories by taking pictures.

Gabriella sighed deeply, yet again. She really thought that the two were going to get somewhere. Somewhere else in their relationship… but… nothing ever happened. Gabriella was partly angry with herself, since she knew that it was just as much as it was her fault, as it was Troy's. Neither of them did anything about it. Besides, Gabriella didn't even think that Troy liked her the way that she felt about him. She really had believed that… just maybe… they had felt the same way about each other back then. Sure… that was only a few weeks ago… but still… Now… their relationship hadn't gone anywhere, and Gabriella wouldn't be surprised if Troy had moved on… or if he hadn't… even… liked her in the first place.

Gabriella quickly pushed the thoughts to the back of her head as she blinked away a tear. No, she shouldn't be thinking about things such as that. She was just going to sit back and let fate take things where they were meant to be… even if… they weren't to her liking at all…

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**Author's Note: **Aww, I feel bad leaving the chapter to end on a sad note. Oh well. –shrug- Anyways, I was going to make the picture of them singing at the actual play… but I had to change that real quick 'cause I just remembered that this story takes place a few weeks after the final callbacks, but not after the actual play. That comes up in a few more weeks. ;) Please remember that this is only the first part of chapter three. The second part will be coming _real_ soon. I promise!


	4. The 1st of 26 Ideas X Part Two

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**ZEE AUTHOR'S NOTEE. **Homigawddd, could I ACTUALLY be updating this thing??!! Why yush, yush I am. Lawwlz. I really, honestlyyy. Wrote this chapter a longgg. Longgg. Soosoosooo uberlyy long time ago. And I really meant to have updated with it... quite some time ago. Erm, apparently, I never got around to it though. XD Humm. I really dunno how I'm going to continue writing this. Since I've kindasorta lost a lotta my interest in HSM. ...And definatley Zac Efron. Mm, somewhat Vanessa Anne Hudgens. But she's growingg back on me. Hah. Mm, I've been doing a lot of roleplaying lately. And that's fun and such. But you can imagine that my writing style has changed seriouslyyy. HOYEAH. And I apoligize for this chapter being all crappyish too. I tried to go in and rewrite some parts of it. But I was just too dern lazy. XD

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The next day went by just as all of the other ones had. Nothing special – or different, for that matter – happened. Gabriella went to her regular classes, sparing quick glances at Troy every chance that she got. Troy did the same, blushing every time he turned away. Taylor stuck around Gabriella, due to the two being in all of the same classes for the students of 'higher intelligence'. Chad got a pencil stuck up his nose. Ryan showed off his new sparkly, blue beret. Sharpay chatted up a storm – her mouth literally moving a mile a SECOND. Kelsi giggled endlessly at Jason's corny jokes. Uh, Jason told stupid jokes… and Zeke… well, no one exactly knows just _what_ Zeke always does… nor, do they have an answer as to why he always seems to show up, at exactly the right time, holding some type of baked treat. Buttt, he kept stuffing sugar cookies in Sharpay's mouth and talked with the rest of the group, while the other boys on the basketball team, the cheerleaders, and the rest of the people that felt that they needed to be in their group, followed all of them throughout the day. 

The last class of the day was history – one class that (surprisingly) every member of their group was in together. Gabriella set her eyes upon the middle-aged woman moving across the room before her, her head resting in her hand as she used the limb to support herself. Gabriella was fully focused on the teacher – taking in everything that she said, and storing them in her memory. Well… kind of.

Directly on the opposite side of the room, sat a dear lil' ol boy by the name of Troy Bolton. Troy was having a rather hard time paying attention in class that day. He had thought about… things, the night before. He had thought about a lot of things – each one concerning the gorgeous, dark headed girl sitting on the opposite side of the room. Ugh. _Why must this be so difficult?_ he mentally asked himself. Truth be told, Troy was just as clueless as… well… Mrs. Darbus was, when it came to relationships… at least… this one. And he had a feeling that Gabriella wasn't too far off from where he stood… or sat. Either one would work, probably.

Gabriella sighed deeply, letting her eyes wander around the room. The girl in front of her – Pita was playing with a silver heart pendent hanging from her neck, Taylor had her full attention focused upon Mrs. Carlyle – their history teacher, Kelsi was polishing off her glasses by rubbing the end of her shirt along the lenses, Chad was silently twiddling his fingers under his desk, Sharpay was touching up on her eye shadow, Ryan was playing with the sequins on his button-up shirt, and Troy… Troy was… looking at her? Gabriella furrowed her eyebrows and blinked a few times, making sure that she wasn't daydreaming. However, the boy was indeed watching her every mood with a dazed expression on his face.

Troy suddenly snapped out his trance, once he noticed that Gabriella had been eyeing him oddly. Just when Troy thought it was safe, he let his eyes wander back to the girl. Instantly, both of teens' eyes met, their stomachs turning in knots as a strange feeling overcame them both. Gabriella tried taking her gaze off of Troy, but it seemed as though his eyes were locking her to the spot. She was screaming inside of her mind, but no matter what she did, she just couldn't seem to pull her eyes away from his gaze. From Gabriella's view, it seemed as though Troy was having the same problem… but he seemed to be more nervous, his cheeks suddenly turning a bright pink color.

A few more moments went on like this, until… "Mr. Bolton! Ms. Montez!" Mrs. Carlyle snapped, hitting the chalkboard firmly with her pointer. They were immediately pulled out of their trances, both of them jumping almost a foot off of the ground in surprise. "What could possibly be so interesting between the both of you? Mr. Bolton, could you tell me the last few statements that I made?" the women asked with a quirked eyebrow and pursed lips.

Troy looked around nervously as he racked his brain, trying to find anything stored inside his memory, that he could possibly answer the teacher with. "We're waiting…" Mrs. Carlyle prodded.  
Troy laughed somewhat, trying to lighten the situation as a small ripple of giggles spread across the classroom. It didn't help much – the woman just gave him a sterner look. "Umm… history…?" the boy offered weakly. At this statement, an even greater laughter spread throughout the classroom. "Funny, Troy. Funny." Mrs. Carlyle remarked sarcastically.

Troy sunk down as far as he could in his chair and turned his head slightly to the other direction, as the blood began to (yet again) rise to his cheeks. Gabriella bit her lip. She couldn't help but to feel pity for him. After all, it was her fault, as well.

Suddenly, Mrs. Carlyle turned sharply to the brunette, and started speaking in Gabriella's direction. "Well, Ms. Montez, do you know? Or were you not really paying attention, either?" Gabriella honestly didn't know, either. She decided not to go the same route as Troy did, and to be honest about it. Gabriella hung her head as she replied softly, "No, Mrs. Carlyle. I-I don't…"

"Well then," Mrs. Carlyle started once again, now back at her rightful position, in front of the chalk board. "Because I'm so nice," she said sarcastically, with a flicker of a smile on her face. "I'll let you both off with a warning this time. However, next time I catch either one of you slacking off in class, you'll find yourself in detention, are we understood?" Both Troy and Gabriella nodded in response, and the woman nodded, turning back to the chalkboard. "Now, stop looking at each other and let's try and pay attention this time, okay? Besides, all relationships are supposed to be taken up outside of the classroom…" she muttered the last part more to herself, than to the class. However, everyone heard her quite clear and yet another small giggling fit was irrupted from the teenagers. By this time, both brunettes were bright pink in the face.

Taylor turned to give Chad a quick look – her eyebrows raised and a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. Chad let out a soft laugh and shook his head as Taylor turned back to Mrs. Carlyle, whom was now moving about the front of the classroom, lecturing them about something or other.

By the end of class, the students were all too ready to leave the classroom – two students in particular. Troy gathered his things quickly and waited outside of the classroom. Gabriella walked out of the room a few moments later, and paused in front of Troy awkwardly. "Umm…" she started, but quickly stopped herself.

"I-I'm sor-sorry-ry ab-about-out that-that back there." they both said in unison. …I tried to make it look like zey were saying it at the same time. But the ending result wasn't all zat good. P

Gabriella grinned. "Yeah, I-I really don't know… what went on in there, ya know?" Troy nodded.

Truthfully, Troy didn't know, either. He felt… different – different than he ever had before. A strange, nervous, lustful, and one of complete happiness, but also a feeling that he may just get sick, overcame him all at once. Troy had a hunch that he knew what it was, but…

"I guess," Gabriella interrupted Troy's thoughts, talking quite fast. "I guess… I was just daydreaming, or something like that. You know, just kinda thinking, about… this celebrity that I have this huge crush on. Haha. Yup, that was it." Gabriella put on the brightest smile that she could muster, when she was telling a lie, as she waited for Troy's response.

Upon hearing Gabriella's statement, Troy's heart instantly sank. She was just daydreaming! he told himself angrily. She was thinking about some much better looking guy that she has a crush on! God, how stupid am I? – thinking that… well… that she… ya know, liked me… like that. Troy quickly shook the thoughts out of his head as he realized that Gabriella was still standing there. "Umm… yeah. Me, me too. I was just… thinking… about… that big basketball game that we have coming up."

Gabriella nodded, trying to keep the smile planted on her face, when she was really quite saddened on the inside, from Troy's response. Of course. He was just thinking, Gabs. C'mon. You've really got to stop thinking about stuff like this. It's just not gonna happen between you two. You guys are just friends. Gabriella told herself mentally.

"Well, umm… I better get going. I already saw Taylor go off, and I'm supposed to meet her somewhere." Gabriella said as she began turning around.

"Yeah, and I've gotta go find Chad." Troy replied, as he began making his way down the hall, as well.

* * *

"C'mon! Where the heck could she possible be? She's like… two minutes late!" Taylor cried aloud as Troy walked into the gym, giving both Chad – who was standing beside Taylor – and Taylor an odd glance. Troy shrugged and moved nearer to Chad.

"Soooo… Uh, what did you want me for, again?"

Chad simply ignored Troy, and continued talking with Taylor, as if Troy wasn't even there. "She'll be here, Tay. Honestly, she's only two minutes late. We've got plenty of time." he assured her. Taylor nodded as she began fumbling with her watch, again.

"Umm… helloooo?" Troy said, snapping his fingers in front of Chad's face. Chad instantly slapped Troy softly in the head, pushing him a few feet back. Troy furrowed his eyebrows, clearly becoming a bit annoyed from being ignored.

"Could someone puh-lease tell me what the heck's going on?!" Troy tried once again.

"Just hold on, Troy." Taylor replied, this time. Troy threw his hands up in the air and plopped himself onto the gym floor, just as Gabriella walked through the doors.

Taylor quickly hopped over to her best friend. "Where have you been?! You're…" Taylor paused, looking down to her watch. "Exactly three minutes and twenty-four seconds late!"

Gabriella gave her a short laugh and replied, "Since when has it become illegal for a girl to take a peeing break?" Taylor giggled at Gabriella's response. "It hasn't exactly become illegal… yet." she said with a glint in her eyes as she gave her friend a short look. "It's just that… well… you were late! You weren't supposed to be late!"

"Okay, Taylor, I'm sorry." Gabriella said, as she flashed the girl a grin.

By this time, Troy had become aware that Gabriella's presence. He noticed Taylor eye Chad and give him some sort of signal with her eyes and Chad nodded. "Alright, so let's start!" Taylor cried happily.

"Uh… start what?" Gabriella asked, clearly confused. "I thought that you wanted me to watch the boys play basketball with you…"

"Umm, well… I do!" Taylor replied. "But, there's something that we need to do first!"

Suddenly, the gym doors banged open, and the head of Zeke Baylor poked through the doors. "Hey everybody!" he greeted the four cheerfully, now fully entering the room and making his way to where Troy and Chad were standing.

Taylor quickly grabbed Gabriella's hand and took off running towards Zeke. Troy and Chad hurriedly scrambled out of the way of the charging girl, while Zeke stood quite dumbfounded and frightened by the look on the girl's face as she grew closer and closer… and closer. Gabriella's face was simply a mixture of confusion and… well, fear… as to just what Taylor was doing and… just what was going to happen to her, when Taylor did whatever she was about to do.

Only a few more steps… Taylor was picking up great speed and Gabriella was becoming more and more worried. Zeke was unable to move anywhere, due to the shock of having a girl suddenly fling herself at him. Before any more thoughts were able to cross the teens' heads… WHAM! Taylor had successfully crashed into Zeke, causing him to fall to floor on his back, and Taylor landing squarely on the boy's stomach, while Gabriella was flung quite forcefully down with Taylor… only, she didn't have a soft and squishy object (which, is this case, would be Zeke) – due to Zeke being too small to fit two girls on top of him - so Gabriella ended up landing on the hard floor. "Owe." She said softly, as she tugged her hand out of Taylor's grip (yup, Taylor was still holding on) and rubbed her sore side, as she attempted to pick herself up. Troy quickly rushed over to the brunette and held his hand out to her. Gabriella grinned and thankfully took his hand as he pulled her up. "You alright?" he asked. "Eh, I guess so. Just a bit sore, that's all. S'pose I'm pretty used to it by now – most people do, after befriending Taylor." Gabriella replied with a giggle.

Troy nodded and turned his attention to the flustered boy lying on the floor. "How about you, Zeke?"

Before the boy could open his mouth to answer Troy, Taylor placed her hand over his mouth and snapped, "Shut up, Troy." Troy simply put up his hands up and backed away slowly as he went to stand back by Chad and Gabriella.

"You…" Taylor started slowly, glaring at the boy beneath her. Zeke gulped. "Uh… yeah, T-Taylor?"

"You…" Taylor began again. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! _YOU'RE_ NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!"

"Why not?" Troy dared to ask. "I mean, Zeke's part of the team, right? And… didn't you say that we were going to be practicing today, Chad?" Taylor quickly turned to Chad. Chad laughed nervously. "Uh, yeah. W-We are… but… but… umm… Zeke wasn't supposed to be here… because… because… Uh… Taylor? Umm… why don't you tell Troy why Zeke wasn't supposed to be here?"

Taylor put on a fake grin and let out a small laugh. "Umm… well, h-he just… wasn't."

"Why not?" Zeke asked.

"Because you just weren't, Zeke. Gah. What did you come here for anyway?" Taylor asked as she hopped off of Zeke and pulled him back to his feet. "Uh, sorry 'bout that there, by the way." she muttered as she flashed him a small grin.

Zeke nodded. "Uh, that's okay, Taylor." he responded awkwardly. "Anyway, I came to find Troy. Troy, remember? You're supposed to be training for the cook-offs with me."

"Oh yeah." Troy replied, nodding as he recalled the occasion. "Zeke's going to be training me for the '13th Annual Good Eatin' Cook and Bake-Off'." Troy grinned cheekily, while Chad gave him an 'Are you serious?' look.

"You." Chad started. "_You_ are going to help cook up something with Zeke, in the hopes of winning some type of trophy or something like that?" Troy and Zeke nodded. "Troy, you can't even make _cereal_ without setting the kitchen – and my hair, for that matter – on fire!"

Now it was time for them all to raise an eyebrow in Troy's direction. "You set the kitchen… and Chad's hair on fire… by making cereal? _Cereal_?! How the heck can ya do that?!" Taylor asked.

Troy let out a small laugh and replied, "Well, umm… You see, there was this time – back when Chad and I were twelve… and Chad had stayed over at my house the night before. Right, so that morning, I decided to make myself some cereal… and well… my mom – she had a candle lit on the counter – you know, I really never knew why. I mean, 'cause it was in the morning… and you know, you don't see many people with a candle lit in the morning, and all… and I guess she just liked the smell of it or something-" Troy stopped abruptly, after he had noticed that he was rambling and he grinned slightly, as he blushed and went on. "Yeah, so I was making some cereal, and my cat kinda got in the way… and… and then Chad started coming over, and I kinda sorta… uh, tripped over my cat – you all know I can get a bit klutzy every now and then… and then… well… I think you can guess what happens from there." Troy nodded as he finished speaking.

Once Troy had finished his short speech, Chad was still in the same position that he was in before, Zeke had a bit of a worried expression on his face, clearly rethinking his decision of making Troy his partner in the cook-off, and Gabriella and Taylor were in giggling fits.

"But, I mean, the firemen got there in time to save… most of the kitchen and the rest of the house. And I mean, only one teeny tiny section of Chad's hair was a bit blacker than normal and smelt kind of weird and all… but, his mom fixed it by cutting it off… even though she had to shave off all of his hair in the end… 'cause… uh, she kinda cut off a bit too much in the first place…" Troy trailed off.

Gabriella and Taylor were laughing even harder, now, while Zeke seemed even more worried, and Chad looked quite flustered. "I was made fun of 'cause I was bald!" he cried.

Troy gave him an apologetic look. "Hey, I said that I was _really_ sorry, dude… like, a million, ka-jillion times! Besides, like, a year later… that style was totally 'in'!"

Chad laughed slightly. "I know, I know. No worries, man."

"So… uh… you _really_ did that? Umm… I think that I might be having some second thoughts about this whole thing…" Zeke said slowly.

Troy blushed. "Oh… uh, I really don't think that that'll ever happen again." he assured Zeke with a short grin. "I mean, I'm really not klutzy anymore… Well, not _that_ much, that is…"

Zeke laughed. "Oh well. Guess I can't change my mind now, anyway. I've already signed us both up." He shrugged. "Anyway, I guess that just means that we've gotta work harder, huh? So… c'mon. This little run-in has already cost us about ten minutes off of the time that you have to learn all this stuff."

"Okay then." Troy replied as he began to follow Zeke out of the gym.

"No, wait!" Taylor and Chad cried in unison.

Both boys turned around. "How come?" Troy asked.

"Uh… like I said, Troy – we have to practice!" Chad replied.

"But we already had a practice during free period today… and we've got another one the day after tomorrow. Besides, the rest of the team isn't even here."

"But-" Chad protested.

"You know, we really do have to go…" Zeke cut in.

"But, really. I mean, you've gotta stay. And Zeke, you've gotta leave." said Taylor, as she began to usher Zeke out of the gym.

"But, this is _really_ important." Zeke protested, breaking free of Taylor's grasp and he hurried back to Troy's side. "And if Troy's as bad off as it seems… we've got a lot of work to do. C'mon, Troy." Once again, both boys started walking off.

"No, just please! We _really_ need for Troy to stay here, and for you to go!" Chad cried, clearly getting annoyed by this.

"Sorry, dude… but we really gotta go now." Zeke replied.

"Umm… I just forgot, but my mom's waiting for me at home, and so…" Gabriella finally spoke up.

Chad and Taylor turned sharply towards Gabriella. "No, you can't leave either!"

"C'mon, we've really gotta get going now, Troy." Zeke tried again.

"Yeah, and I've really gotta get going too. My mom will be _really_ mad if I don't get home soon." Gabriella said, as she, herself, started walking off.

Taylor groaned. "Fine. Just… leave. Go ahead." Taylor threw her hands in the air and collapsed onto the bleachers.  
"Alrighty then, bye guys! I'll talk to you all tomorrow!" Gabriella shouted as she ran out of the gym.

"Let's go Troy. Thanks for letting us leave, you guys!" Zeke said with a chuckle.

"Uh, what he said." Troy nodded and followed Zeke out of the gym, just before he gave a short wave in Chad and Taylor's direction.

Taylor simply looked at Chad. Chad offered her a small grin. "Well, that went just swell." she said sarcastically.

"Haha. Hey, it could've went worse."

"Well… now what are we supposed to do?"

"Hey, don't ask me." Chad said as he backed away from her slightly. "It was your idea, so you've gotta think up all of this stuff."

"Well… I guess we're just gonna have to think off a plan B." Taylor nodded.

"You mean we have to go through all of this… _again_?!"

"Yup." Taylor nodded and grabbed Chad's hand. "So, we'd better get thinking, buddy."


End file.
